Hiscox Says `Too Early' to Give Loss Estimate on Hurricane Sandy

By Kevin Crowley -
Nov 5, 2012

Hiscox Ltd. (HSX), the biggest Lloyd’s of
London insurer by market value, said it’s “too early” to give
a meaningful estimate of the losses from Hurricane Sandy, which
slammed into New York and New Jersey last week.

The insurer is in a “good position” to absorb any losses
given the relative lack of natural disasters this year, Chief
Executive Officer Bronek Masojada said in a statement today.
Insurers paid out $105 billion last year, with earthquakes in
Japan and New Zealand making it the industry’s most expensive
year on record, according to Munich Re.

Hurricane Sandy slammed into New York and New Jersey Oct.
29, barreling through the most populous region of the U.S.,
killing at least 90 people and leaving as many as 8.5 million
homes and businesses without power. Insurers may pay $10 billion
to $20 billion to settle claims from the storm, according to
Eqecat Inc., a provider of catastrophic risk models.

Hiscox’s revenue rose 6.4 percent to 1.24 billion pounds
($2 billion) in the nine months to Sept. 30 following premium
rate rises in the U.S., the Hamilton, Bermuda-based insurer said
today in the statement.

Premium rates for U.S. property rose 10 percent from the
same period in 2011 and international reinsurance rates for
policies covering catastrophes climbed between 5 percent and 10
percent, the company said.